MN Boys’ Hockey Hub

No. 1 Hornets tame White Bear Lake

Coming off a tough loss to a section rival is not always the easiest thing to do.

But not every team is No. 1-ranked Edina.

"We didn't want to lose two games in a row," Hornets' defenseman Tyler Nanne said.

Nanne did his part to negate any chance at a rare losing streak for the Hornets, scoring a goal and two assists in Edina's 5-1 victory against White Bear Lake on Saturday at Braemar Arena.

On Thursday night Edina lost to Section 2AA rival Burnsville, but the Hornets quickly put that loss behind them and focused on the Bears.

"It's all about how you do moving forward," Edina coach Curt Giles said. "I didn't think we played a bad game at Burnsville at all, so it wasn't something I was worried about coming into tonight."

The Bears brought in a record with only one blemish and one of the state's elite goal scorers in Jake Wahlin.

"Coach (Giles) told us to make sure that we are aware of him on the ice," Nanne said. "We didn't want to be like 'Oh crap, number 20 is on the ice.' We just made sure that we knew where he was, but didn't focus all of our attention on him, otherwise other guys will hurt you."

If it wasn't for two seconds in the first period, the Hornets would have shut Wahlin out of the scoresheet.

Junior Dylan Malmquist scored on a breakaway with 13:26 left in the first, and it appeared that 1-0 lead would hold up going into the second. However Wahlin took a shot from the right circle on Hornets' goalie Kobi Boe, who made his first varsity start, and Wahlin pounced on the rebound to put it away with two seconds left in the opening period.

"He (Wahlin) got that one at the end, and that is going to happen with a player like that," Giles said. "I liked how we came back in the second and did not let that effect us."

The Hornets scored three times in the second. Nanne concluded it when he jumped on a loose puck at center ice and, after a bad line change by the Bears, broke in alone and beat White Bear Lake goalie Chase Gorman with a wrist shot to his stick side.

"We started the game off a bit slow and really picked it up in the second," Nanne said. "I think we showed that the late goal in the first did not bother us."

The third period was filled with penalties, which included a 5-minute boarding penalty on Edina's Miguel Fidler.

White Bear Lake could not get anything by Boe, who saw his share of quality chances while facing 19 shots.

"I thought we played great on the penalty kill tonight," Nanne said. "Anytime you shut out a team like that, you have done a good job."

Gorman was more busy on the other end with 31 shots faced, stopping 26.

White Bear Lake lost its second game of the season and will bring its 9-2-1 record to Roseville on Thursday, Jan. 9. The Bears currently hold a 7-0-1 record in Suburban East play.

Edina (12-3-0) gets a full week off and it will need it after playing in its own holiday tournament and the Schwan's Cup.

Its next game will not only be a rematch of the Schwan's Cup Gold Division final, but of last year's Class 2AA state final, when it travels to play Hill-Murray on Saturday, Jan. 11.

"It will be good to get a full week of practice before we get back to it," Nanne said.